Press Releases

UbiCare Wins for Digital Parenting Education Solutions +

Boston - July 2019

Boston — Healthcare technology company UbiCare won 3 industry awards this summer for its digital education solution that helps hospitals activate, engage and educate new and expectant parents from pregnancy through early childhood.

• NeshCo Lamplighter – Electronic Marketing, Gold, for our work with Hartford Hospital educating and engaging their new parent population

These awards together speak to the need for bringing patient communications beyond the walls of the hospital. Educating patients by connecting with them in their regular lives, through the technology they use every day, gives hospitals the ability to more effectively impact care and drive positive health behaviors.

“Our patients really appreciate the ongoing education and connection to our hospital that the weekly emails provide. The patients love them and it makes it easier for our doctors and nurses to do their jobs. The emails really help us reach our goals of supporting our patient population and achieving good outcomes,” said Cheri Cronin, Manager of Women’s Health Patient Education at Hartford Hospital.

UbiCare optimized its patient engagement product for expectant moms to reflect the ways that millennials consume information by incorporating a mobile-first approach, modern layouts and streamlined content design. Launched in December 2018, the enhancements are showing increased levels of patient engagement significantly higher than national healthcare averages.

“Millennial moms account for 85% of new births in the U.S. We think that the best way to connect with these expectant parents is through the mobile devices that they use in their fast-paced lives.” said Debra Zalvan, Executive Vice President at UbiCare. “By staying up-to-date with the trends in the market, we can provide a greater opportunity to help our hospitals support, guide and engage their patients”

The 21st-annual Digital Health Awards honor the world’s best digital health resources. A panel of 29 experts in digital health media served as judges and selected gold, silver, bronze, and merit winners from more than 400 entries. The Health Information Resource CenterSM (HIRC), organizer of the Digital Health Awards, is a national information clearinghouse for professionals who work in consumer health fields. A full list of the winners can be requested here.

The Gold Lamplighter is the top award given in more than 40 healthcare marketing and public relations categories in an annual competition sponsored by the New England Society for Healthcare Communications. The awards recognize excellence in healthcare communications throughout the region. A full list of winners can be downloaded here.

U.S. News’ Best Hospitals Choose UbiCare for Patient Engagement and Education +

Boston - August 23, 2018

Boston — UbiCare, a health technology company that helps hospitals activate, engage and educate patients throughout a care episode, congratulates our 12 hospital clients who made the U.S. News & World Report Best Hospitals list for 2018–’19.

“It makes sense that hospitals using innovative patient engagement solutions are also being honored as ‘Best Hospitals,’” says UbiCare Executive Vice President Debra Zalvan. “Healthcare leaders today are focusing on programs that drive value enterprise-wide, and patient activation technology is one of the ways that hospitals are doing this.”

U.S. News evaluated more than 5,000 hospitals and awarded winners in a variety of categories. The 12 awardees working with UbiCare break down as follows:

• 3 made the Honor Roll – a category reserved for the top 20 overall hospitals nationwide.

• 7 were honored as Best Children’s Hospitals, and these hospitals all work with UbiCare in the obstetrics, maternal health, pediatrics and autism service lines.

• 2 were honored as Best Hospitals in Orthopedics, and these hospitals use UbiCare’s solution for total knee and hip replacement.

“The best hospitals recognize that to impact clinical outcomes, you need to reach patients outside the hospital walls,” adds Zalvan. “Each of the hospitals honored is doing just that. The U.S. News’ honor reinforces that educating and engaging patients remotely over an extended period of time contributes to hospital success.”

Below is the full list of UbiCare client hospitals who made the list.

Best Hospitals Honor Roll:

• Cedars-Sinai Medical Center

• Northwestern Memorial Hospital

• Brigham and Women's Hospital

Best Children’s Hospitals:

• Ann and Robert H. Lurie Children’s Hospital of Chicago

• Baystate Children’s Hospital

• Boston Children’s Hospital

• Children’s Hospital at OU Medical Center

• Doernbecher Children’s Hospital at Oregon Health and Science University

Boston — UbiCare, a leader in patient activation technology to manage the entire episode of care, is giving the health-tech community a chance to impact the future design of the company’s digital health solutions.

Entrepreneurs, designers or others with UX/UI skills can apply by July 19 by proposing their solution to improve patient-provider interactions on mobile devices throughout one of several provided healthcare challenges, including pregnancy, total joint replacement, pediatric obesity, heart failure and patient-reported feedback.

Up to two winners will be award a consultancy contract with UbiCare to integrate their solutions into the company’s existing patient activation platform. The winners will get to launch their solutions with approximately 200,000 patients at more than 100 hospitals worldwide.

The Challenge will benefit not only those participating but also the company’s clients.

“Using this process allows us to deliver solutions more quickly and creatively to our clients, while also engaging a wide pool of UX/UI talent,” says Bill Lindsay, head of product and UI at UbiCare.

UbiCare and March for Moms Partner to Support Maternal Health and Education for All +

Boston — April 26, 2018

UbiCare announces a partnership with March for Moms, a 501(c)3 nonprofit organization committed to the best possible health and well being for all mothers.

As the Exclusive Digital Education Partner, UbiCare joins more than 15 other partners, including the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists, Association of Women’s Health, Obstetric, and Neonatal Nurses and the March of Dimes.

As such, UbiCare will offer all expectant and new mothers attending the march and organizational participants access to our mobile education resource for the pregnancy and parenting journey. These digital connections run from pregnancy through a child’s third birthday.

UbiCare’s powerful digital care tool helps March for Moms to directly reach thousands and instantly support and raise awareness about their 3 keys issues: Improving access to care, Quality/equity of care and Post-birth support.

Thousands of March for Moms supporters will rally on the National Mall in Washington, D.C., on Sunday, May 6, 2018, in support of these issues. May 6 also kicks off the first-ever National Maternal Health Week, which wraps up on Mother’s Day, May 13.

UbiCare has partnered with HealthEast (a St. Paul, Minn.-based hospital system) to demonstrate how a proactively sending interactive, episode-based care messages provides a high ROI for these hospitals. Preliminary impressions of this new study suggest that HealthEast may be able to reduce length of stay (LOS) for total joint replacement (TJR) surgeries by 15.6%—meaning that, based on its surgery volume, it could add as many as 268 new TJR patients annually, representing up to $3.9 million in new revenue potential.

Also of interest, more than 70% of the 171 enrolled joint patients are “highly engaged” with the intervention (opening >50% of the educational messages sent to them). Likewise, so far, there has been a striking difference in discharge destination, with only 6.2% of the enrolled TJR patients going to a skilled nursing facility (SNF), rather than directly home, vs. 24.7% discharged to a SNF in 2016.

The Center for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS), the nation’s primary payer, has continually escalated its hospital penalties for readmissions since 2012, a trend that has forced hospitals to address triggers that are known to lead to readmissions and complications, including longer length of stay and discharge to a place other than home.

There are two main reasons that HealthEast’s specific solution might show such a significant difference so quickly:

• Proactive – Patients access the care messages on their mobile devices with no login required.

• Reaches patients earlier inthe care episode – Starts engaging patients long before they enter the hospital, the ideal time to set expectations and behaviors for better health outcomes.

Study updates are now being shared with a group of chief nursing officers and marketing leaders nationwide. Want to learn more or get future updates? Contact us at info@ubicare.com.

To Help Hospital Marketers Own a Better Patient Experience, UbiCare Releases Next Generation Content Manager +

Boston — January 2, 2018

Hospital marketers are increasingly held accountable for patient satisfaction and patient experience throughout the entire care episode—not just in the hospital. With decreasing budgets and staff bandwidth, marketing teams need an automated way to build patient trust and brand awareness over the lifecycle of patient care.
That’s why UbiCare has released the new SmarteXp Content Manager, giving hospitals an automatic way to sustain meaningful connections with patients.

The SmarteXp Content Manager can be used as a standalone content management system for healthcare or as part of the SmarteXp interactive episode care solution, which comes pre-populated with evidence-based health content about specific care episodes.
Designed to allow for more patient-provider interaction, patient-data collection and hospital branding opportunities, the new SmarteXp Content Manager:

Promotes consistent hospital branding in each message with flexible options for customized content and design.

The SmarteXp Content Manager is a mobile-first tool so patients can manage their health on the go as part of their daily lives.
The interface is multi-channel, making it easy to communicate with patients via email, text or web, depending on their preference, on any message.

Now more than ever, healthcare providers need flexible and scalable systems to engage patients in a value-based care world. UbiCare’s powerful SmarteXp Content Manager provides that flexibility with minimum cost in time, effort and dollars.

UbiCare Wins for Best Care/Disease Management at 2017 eHealthcare Awards in Austin +

Boston — November 2, 2017

Health technology company UbiCare has won a gold eHealthcare Leadership Award for Best Care/Disease Management for SmarteXp, a patient engagement solution that decreases hospitals’ cost of care and drives patient understanding by automatically guiding and educating patients through email and text.

Healthcare organizations using SmarteXp find that 90% of patients feel more connected to their hospitals and 86% are able to manage their care better. Since 2002, health systems have used the plug-and-play tool to reduce readmission rates, improve outcomes and provide a more personalized patient experience. See how it works here.

“Winners know how to present information in a format that is both pleasing to the eye and highly functional,” said Jane Weber Brubaker, chair of the eHealthcare Leadership Awards. “That experience creates a bond between the user and the organization’s brand—and it drives business outcomes.”

Entries were judged by 116 healthcare and Internet experts on a standard of digital communications excellence. Winners were announced on October 25, at a special keynote presentation at the 21st Healthcare Internet Conference in Austin, TX. See the full list of winners in all categories here.

NorthBay Helps Parents Take ‘Baby Steps’ +

Boston — July 12, 2017

NorthBay Healthcare is joining forces with a Boston-based health technology company to create “Baby Steps by NorthBay,” for new and expectant families.

Using UbiCare’s SmarteXp solution, NorthBay will deliver health education and support from pregnancy through a child’s third birthday on patients’ smart phones and computers through mobile-optimized texts and emails. Families can sign up to receive this service by visiting NorthBay.org/Cherish.

Each message is customized to coincide with milestones in a child’s development. That means parents with newborns receive information about caring for newborn while parents with toddlers will receive relevant information on their age and stage.

Recognizing that patients in all demographics are increasingly using smartphones as their primary means of online access, NorthBay leaders expect Baby Steps will better engage patients in their care.

“Patients will have the choice of connecting with NorthBay by email or text, with both options optimized for mobile viewing,” said Sarah Jewel, director of Facilities Development.

NorthBay Medical Center was designated as a Baby Friendly facility in 2014 and Baby Steps will be used to educate patients on exclusive breastfeeding and to provide staff with on-demand access to training that aligns with the World Health Organization’s 10 Steps to Successful Breastfeeding.

“As the region’s only locally based, locally managed nonprofit healthcare organization, we strive to ensure that local residents remain near home for most of the healthcare services they'll need in their lifetimes,” said Sarah.

“Staying connected to our patients after they deliver here and in their everyday lives extends our quality care outside the hospital and through the entire care episode.”

NorthBay is particularly focused on improving access to care as part of its ABC Prenatal Program, which provides personalized pre- and postnatal resources in both English and Spanish for pregnant women with limited or no health insurance.

“With the ability to easily translate care messages into Spanish and other common languages, the solution will be an invaluable addition to our network of services,” said Sarah.

NorthBay also plans to use SmarteXp to help increase vaccination rates among children, from newborns to age 3.

Healthcare technology is helping to close the gap in breastfeeding support +

Boston — June 29, 2017

NPR's spotlight this week on the challenges that American women face when it comes to breastfeeding in this culture is critically important for new moms learning to breastfeed. The good news is that healthcare technology can make up for what women in the U.S. lack in ongoing breastfeeding guidance and support.

For American women, it’s often not feasible to have the maternal support that women in cultures like the Himba of Namibia enjoy. These women, NPR reported, spend extended time with and learn to breastfeed from their mothers. In the U.S., limited maternity leave and a scattered extended family (living in different states or even different countries) mean that a new mom is more often on her own when learning to feed and care for her newborn at home.

Our data confirms that women want to use healthcare technology to close the gap in breastfeeding knowledge and support; more than 413,000 patients at more than 158 hospitals worldwide are using UbiCare’s digital engagement solution to manage their pregnancy, childcare and breastfeeding.

The technology they use allows the healthcare provider to step into the “grandmother” role when a new mom’s mother is far away, by delivering breastfeeding guidance on patients’ mobile devices, mapped to each mother’s precise week postpartum, and allowing her to learn and ask for help 24/7, without cost.

For U.S. women who feel alone with their breastfeeding challenges, this digital connection with their hospitals provides much-needed guidance and support. It breaks the stigma for women struggling with breastfeeding and gives them the “grandmother” touch any time they need it.

Health technology company UbiCare has won a Gold Lamplighter Award for its thought leadership and educational efforts surrounding Comprehensive Care for Joint Replacement (CJR). CJR is the first mandatory bundled payment initiative from the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS), holding 794 orthopedic hospitals financially accountable for patient satisfaction and outcomes following knee and hip replacement surgery.

The Gold Lamplighter is the top award given in more than 40 healthcare marketing and public relations categories in an annual competition sponsored by the New England Society for Healthcare Communications. The awards recognize excellence in healthcare communications throughout the region.

UbiCare’s CJR campaign offers hospitals and health systems strategies for successfully implementing the CJR episode-based payment initiative. Specifically, it looks at how automated patient education and engagement, targeted to specific points throughout the episode of care, can be used to reduce post-op complication rates and increase patient satisfaction.

It is critically important to educate and engage patients not only after their hospital stay, but before as well:

An Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality study finds that patients who are educated about their post-care instructions are 30 percent less likely to be readmitted or visit the ED.

A Gallup study shows that educating patients earlier, in the pre-care period, improves patient satisfaction. It finds that 72% of patients who knew what to expect after surgery were extremely satisfied, and just 8% reported complications.

A Parkview Medical Center case study demonstrated that this kind of expectation-setting patient engagement can reduce length of stay by up to 17% and generate new hospital revenue of $421,000.

The 2017 Lamplighter competition received 352 entries and awarded 51 hospitals, healthcare organizations and agencies for superior healthcare content creation. Judges came from the Mississippi Society for Healthcare Marketing and Public Relations, Wisconsin Healthcare Public Relations and Marketing Society and Louisiana Society of Hospital Public Relations and Marketing. The full list of winners is available here.

UbiCare and Truven Health Analytics, an IBM Watson Health Company, have signed a business partnership agreement to bring their mutual healthcare knowledge to hospitals and health systems nationwide.
With more than 50 years of combined experience in healthcare, both companies offer proven solutions to help providers impact patient outcomes while improving quality, enhancing staff efficiencies, and reducing costs.

“Building on our shared healthcare expertise, we are excited to work together on enterprise healthcare solutions, whether it’s a better way to engage patients, improve quality of care or make better use of existing digital solutions,” said Betsy Weaver, Ed.D, UbiCare CEO.

Truven Health Analytics helps providers answer their most pressing healthcare questions through data insights and consulting services. UbiCare content and technology lets health systems guide patients through an episode of care from pre-care to point of care and post-care. Both companies are focused on improving the healthcare industry by empowering patients and helping hospitals implement value-based care.

As healthcare shifts to patient-centered care, the integration of UbiCare’s population-level health information and engagement expertise with Truven’s medication and problem-specific educational content will help hospitals holistically educate patients, set expectations and encourage shared decision-making.

Truven Health Analytics®, part of the IBM Watson Health™ business, provides market-leading performance improvement solutions built on data integrity, advanced analytics and domain expertise. For more than 40 years, our insights and solutions have been providing hospitals and clinicians, employers and health plans, state and federal government agencies, life sciences companies, and policymakers the facts they need to help them make confident decisions that directly affect the health and well-being of people and organizations in the U.S. and around the world.

Truven Health Analytics owns some of the most trusted brands in healthcare, such as MarketScan®, 100 Top Hospitals®, Advantage Suite®, Micromedex®, Simpler®, ActionOI® and JWA. Truven Health has its principal offices in Ann Arbor, Mich.; Chicago; and Denver. For more information, please visit truvenhealth.com.

Health Technology That Engages Patients on a Personal Level Can Help Hospitals Achieve Value-Based Care +

Boston – May 17, 2017

Recent government mandates that hold health systems responsible for the entire episode of care mean that hospitals must reach their patients beyond the traditional care setting.

Forward-thinking hospitals are engaging with patients in their everyday lives – before, during and after surgery, a medical procedure or treatment – by connecting with them on digital devices in ways that acknowledge how people understand and process health information.

U.S. adults are barraged with an average of 5,000+ advertisements and brand exposures every day. Only 12 of these actually make an impression.

How do you cut through the noise and influence behavior change?

“With technology that seamlessly integrates into patients’ lives and content that engages them on an intrinsically human level,” says Betsy Weaver, Ed.D, CEO and Co-founder of digital health company UbiCare. This means content that addresses the basic human needs for knowledge, expectations and feeling understood and supported.

“Hospitals that engage their patients in this way are impacting patient self-care management and decision-making – as well as the hospitals' bottom line,” Weaver says.

Expanding care beyond the four walls is both a new responsibility and opportunity for hospitals and health systems. Guidance on using technology to impact quality of care, cost and health outcomes, while still engaging patients on a truly human level, can be found in the new white paper, “A Digital Strategy for Succeeding in Care, Cost & Quality.” Get the white paper here.

Inaugural initiative of AARP and MedCity News showcases companies and people delivering cutting-edge healthcare solutions for the 50+ market

Boston — UbiCare has been named one of the healthcare industry’s 50+ Innovation Leaders for its solution enabling hospitals to manage an episode of care for knee and hip replacement surgery. An AARP initiative administered by MedCity News, the award recognizes entrepreneurs, companies and ideas behind innovative new products and services for Americans ages 50 and older.

The solution, UbiCare’s SmarteXp, guides patients through their surgical care episode by proactively delivering health information (through push email and text messaging) to patients in a mobile responsive format before, during and after their hospital stay.

This kind of expectation-setting patient engagement has been proven to reduce length of stay by up to 17% and generate new hospital revenue of $421,000.

As of this year, 87% of 50- to 64-year-olds are on the internet. And 64% of those ages 65 and older are internet users. “We are all part of this exciting and dynamic digital revolution,” said UbiCare CEO Betsy Weaver, Ed.D. “We’re honored to be part of this opportunity to help hospitals provide an innovative patient care experience.”

The winners of the inaugural 50+ Innovation Leaders program were revealed today during the AARP Innovation@50+ Live Pitch event by representatives of MedCity News and AARP.

“AARP works to empower people to choose how they live as they age,” said Jeffrey Makowka, AARP’s director of market innovation. “We are pleased to join MedCity News in showcasing entrepreneurs who are driving change and improvements in the healthcare industry for the more than 100 million Americans aged 50 and older. We congratulate the remarkable winners who have been recognized by their peers for their innovation leadership.”

In late 2016, MedCity News and AARP issued a call for nominations for entrepreneurs, investors, companies and nonprofit collaborations. Determined by a reader vote, the winners include leaders and companies offering healthcare delivery, medication management and smart wearables.

The full list of winners can be seen at medcitynews.com/50-plus-innovation-leaders/.

Nash General Hospital—part of UNC Health Care—has taken a significant step toward empowering patients to be partners in their care, a key objective in healthcare’s focus on value-based care.

Nash educates patients, their families and hospital staff about pregnancy, early childhood and exclusive breastfeeding with its new digital health solution.

It’s a more efficient way to guide expectant and new families through their care—from the moment a mom learns she is pregnant through the child’s third birthday.

“We are connecting with our patients each week, sharing the tools they need to reach better health outcomes, even when they are outside the hospital or practice,” says Nash Director of PR and Marketing Jeff Hedgepeth.

It’s one way Nash differentiates the OB patient experience at Nash Women’s Center, which opened last May and features a state-of-the-art obstetric facility designed to provide the safest, most comfortable birthing experience for moms, newborns and families.

“Engaging patients digitally in this way is helping to distinguish us as the top birthing center in the region,” says Hedgepeth. “It’s part of our overall mission to deliver the care experience that patients have told us they want.”

“We’re caring for patients outside the hospital with the same, consistent resources and guidance they’ll receive when they deliver their babies here,” says Hedgepeth. “We’re guiding them through the entire process, from pregnancy to the hospital stay and out through the toddler years.”

The same patient engagement technology is in use at UNC REX Healthcare in Raleigh, also a part of the UNC Healthcare system. REX has successfully connected with nearly 6,000 patients since 2007 by providing them with digital health information.

Nash also uses the solution to invest in the training of its clinical staff. Nurses at the Women’s Center receive digital education about exclusive breastfeeding and how to encourage new moms to follow the recommendations of the U.S. Breastfeeding Committee, the World Health Organization and Baby-Friendly USA.

Now more than ever, it’s critical for healthcare providers to share reliable health information with their patients. A Pew study finds that 72% of adult internet users search online for health information. To counter the amount of unreliable, even inaccurate information online, hospitals need to proactively provide their patients with evidence-based health content—so that they don’t feel the urge to search Dr. Google.

“When you give patients the education they need for better outcomes, you empower them to care for themselves and their children, to be better prepared for appointments and to feel more connected to their hospital,” UbiCare CEO Betsy Weaver says. “When you reach patients where they are, on the devices they already use daily, it’s even more effective.”

What It Takes to Run an Innovative Healthcare Company +

Boston — October 13, 2016

We were so excited to see our CEO Betsy Weaver, Ed.D., on Becker’s list of Female Health IT CEOs to Know that we asked her for more on what it takes to start and run one of Boston’s most innovative healthcare companies, UbiCare.

Think outside the box—or the hospital walls—in this case.

Weaver was one of the first to realize that patients need guidance before, during and after their hospital stay. UbiCare delivers its evidence-based health messaging based on the specific point where patients are in the care continuum, not just while they are in the hospital or after discharge.

Meet patients where they already are—on mobile email and text.

Weaver has always supported a “push strategy” of communicating with patients rather than of relying on “pull strategies” like the hospital website, the patient portal or an app—all of which the patient must actively visit and overcome barriers such as passwords to access information.

It all comes down to helping hospitals create trusting, long-term relationships with new and repeat patients, and making it simple for them to communicate with each other about their care.

About UbiCare

UbiCare provides total engagement solutions enabling hospitals to be at the forefront of patient-centered innovation and value-based care through targeted education, mobile connections and real time data.

The Defense Health Agency (DHA) of the Department of Defense (DoD) chose Total Engagement Solutions company UbiCare to provide pregnancy, parenting and breastfeeding digital education to military beneficiaries and staff at all 50 Military Treatment Facilities (MTFs) that deliver babies worldwide.

It is an expansion of the DHA’s former “eParenting” program that nearly doubles the agency’s commitment to the education and satisfaction of both patient beneficiaries and staff. The new program is called the Pregnancy and New Parent Knowledge Management Program (PNPKM).

LCDR Sharon D. Evans, U.S. Navy, Retired explains:

“Pregnancy and childrearing, in general, is one of the highlights of adult life, but the developmental, transitional crisis associated with becoming parents or adapting to the parental role can be overwhelming, especially during a time of war and being part of the military system.”

Through this program, military expectant and new parent beneficiaries receive evidence-based support specific to their stage of pregnancy or their child’s age (through age 3), as well as breastfeeding guidance, tips and resources directly from their MTF. By expanding the program across all MTFs, DHA is investing in providing equal care to all beneficiaries.

One new parent at William Beaumont Army Medical Center says, “This is the first time I've ever had this much information provided to me, which really helped with some questions I had. Thank you very much for showing you care about me and my child.”

Evans adds, “Our families need our service. The reliable education and regular communications can support them in ways we never dreamed possible and can make a difference for them right now.”

Feedback from military beneficiaries enrolled in the program has revealed significant improvements in patient preparedness, confidence and satisfaction. Among the beneficiaries:

84% take better care of their child

77% are more confident to care for themselves

80% have a stronger hospital connection

76% are better prepared for appointments

DHA has further invested in their clinical team, for the first time providing all MTFs with UbiCare’s breastfeeding education solution designed for staff. This module specifically trains and engages staff on promoting exclusive breastfeeding among new military parents and meets the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s Healthy People 2020 breastfeeding goals. The addition of this module supports DHA’s dedication to staff and its belief that patient satisfaction starts with staff satisfaction.

With the complete program for beneficiaries and staff in place across all MTFs, DHA has empowered the MTFs to increase care consistency, reliability and patient satisfaction throughout the Services.

About UbiCare

UbiCare provides total engagement solutions enabling hospitals to be at the forefront of patient-centered innovation and value-based care through targeted education, mobile connections and real time data.